The Land of the Rising Sun: Phoenix of the Storm
by JMichelleW
Summary: In the Land of the Rising Sun, a war plagued land, all sides fight for unity. Michiyo Arashi must choose her side as well as reclaim her soul. As she struggles to find the meaning of life, happiness and sorrow a war will be conquered and lives will be lost. Date Masamune X OC
1. Proluge: Escape

Pain, that's all I could feel. It was just the after sting of my injuries, but it still hurt like hell. My whole body felt like it was made of stone. To even move my head to the other side of my shoulder from its uncomfortable position against the large wooden pole I was tied to took more energy than I thought I possessed at the moment. My head was still thrumming from the hits I had taken and at this moment it was important that I concentrate. It was hard to focus my sight on anything at the moment. I could hear the raucous laughter coming from the campsite of my captors nearby, which caused the pain in my head to be almost overwhelming. A groan escaped my lips. I closed my eyes waiting for this torture of my head to subside a bit. My head decided that at the moment it did not care too much about my personal comfort. _"Tch, I have no idea how to get out of this!" _I thought. I could feel the starts of panic taking a strangle hold on my chest. I tried taking deep breaths to abate my fears, but the action caused pain in so many different places on my body that it was all I could do to keep my cry from being heard by my captors. As unwelcomed, salty tears rolled down my cheeks and the sudden darkness over my eyes, from my pain, was almost cleared I heard a rustling to the side of me.

My breath caught in my throat, and for the first time I noticed I was in a small clearing all alone. I looked over to my side where the trees were thinnest. A man walked out from the small patch of trees that I assumed led to the campsite of my captors. I couldn't see him well yet, for he was only on the side of my view, but I could definitely tell it was one of the bandits, one of my captors. As the man came to stand in front of me I could see his walk was very unbalanced. The man had on chest and lower armor that looked about three sizes too big for him. All I could see of him was skin and bones and sunken in eyes. He was dirty and greasy. He walked up close to me and I tried to scoot away a bit, but I immediately felt the ropes binding my hands dig into my skin more. The man sneered at me and crouched down so his face was right in front of mine. "You're getting to noi *hiccup* noisy for our tastes missy *hiccup*" he slurred out as he placed a fore finger and a thumb on my chin to keep me from moving my head, I almost wretched with disgust and pain. I wanted to gag on the overwhelming stench of alcohol that rolled off this man's breath. "You know *hiccup* though I am" he paused as his thoughts tried to work through the fog of alcohol, "I'm gettin really bored. I want *hiccup* sum fum" he slurred out as he openly looked my body over then leered at me. By now he was crouched over my legs and his hands were starting to reach out for me. I felt my panic increase tenfold and my head's pain increased. In my panic I kicked up my leg as hard as I could and hit the man straight in his nether region. His hideous, sunken eyes grew large before he made a few squeaks and passed out on top of me.

I held it in this time as the white hot pain shot up my leg from the extra movement, and then the breath taken out of me as the drunkard landed full force on me. I could not bring myself to move until my disgust of being touched in any way by this man outweighed my fear of causing more pain to myself. I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and started thrashing till he fell off of me. After a moment of managing through my pain I focused my eyes. I jumped a little as another burst of guffaws came from the bandits. Then something caught my eye. On the drunkard's belt, which was around his armor, I saw a large sheathed knife with a blade at least as long as my hand."What dumb luck" I muttered in amazement. Also tied on the belt was a small dirty brown sac, but the knife was of more importance to me. _"If I can just get that knife into my hands somehow….." _my thoughts trailed off from there. I couldn't think that far ahead. My once lack of will returned to me in a surge of determination. I just knew that I had to get that knife. I steeled myself for the upcoming pain and started to lift my legs. I had been prepared for the pain, but it still knocked the breath out of me. I worked till I finally got my feet next to the man's knife before I had to rest a second. _"This is taking too long! Someone is going to realize this guy is missing and come looking for him soon. This is my only chance to escape! If this goes wrong…"_ My head snapped up (painfully). My pain and my panic were clouding my head and I was losing focus. I had to get the knife right now! I steeled myself and lifted my feet. It took my weary shaking feet forever just to close firmly around the hilt of the knife. Then I had to keep repeating the process as I would lift the knife out of the sheath and it would slip out of my grip back into the sheath. After what felt like an eternity I had lifted the knife completely out of its sheath. I brought my legs, with a huge effort, up and towards my face, measuring and watching the whole time on the stability of my grip. My eyesight was beginning to get fuzzy around the edges. I strained my head towards my feet feeling tears on my face and pulls on my wounds. I held in my bark of pain and ground my teeth together. The knife was just slightly above my head and a little in front of my face. I let the knife go. As it dropped I used all my weight to rench forward with my head and caught the handle in my mouth. The almost whispered shriek of pain escaped through my teeth and my whole body shook to its core from my pain. As I cried continuously, I slowly, very slowly brought my head around the wooden pole I was tied to as far towards my hands as possible. I again released the knife and it fell right next to my hands. With gritted teeth and one clenched eye I worked my hands for several minutes till I had a firm grip on the knife.

I had to take a second to rest. I then set to work on taking the knife back and forth over the thick knots that bound my hands. At first it was hard to keep a grip on the knife at the awkward angle I had to cut the knots at, but the further I cut the better grip I could get on the knife and then I could cut even faster. Snap, there went one knot and my hope began to grow. I cut through a second knot. I only had one more to go. My paranoia levels rised beyond belief as I kept listening for something and my eyes kept darting around. Then finally I felt the last knot give way and my entire body sagged a little with the new freedom of movement. As I untangled myself from the remains of the rope I realized that I could no longer hear the loud, obnoxious laughter from the campsite as I did before. This made me extremely nervous, but I told myself to stay quiet and calm and I did so as best I could.

I looked over at the drunkard next to me, my feelings of disgust towards him still caught in my throat. I crawled over to him on shaky limbs and grabbed the sheath from his belt. The knife would be needed for later. Then for some odd reason the little brown bag caught my attention. Out of curiosity and foolishness I wasted more time by fumbling with the straps of the bag and looking at its contents. It was drugs, at least I presumed the small, and round pellets in the bag were drugs. The man had said that he and my other attackers thought I was getting too loud. My mind started to apply other uses to the drugs than just to knock me out. _"Maybe if I crush up one of the pills and take only a small amount of it, it will just dull my pain instead of put me to sleep". _I was worried that I was wrong and that my only chance of escape would be ruined, but the temptation of having to deal with a little less pain was just to inviting. I quickly used the knife to crush one of the pills and took a small pinch of the drug. I dropped the tiny chunks onto my tongue, swallowed, and tried to ignore the bitter taste in my mouth.

I then crawled back over to my wooden pole and used it as a support as I slowly dragged myself to my feet. I could already feel the drug start to take effect. My senses were a little numbed, but so was the pain. I walked unsteadily from my tiny clearing, where I had been prisoner, towards the trees that led to the campsite.

I tried staying silent, but it seemed I was stepping on every loud twig there was. It took me longer than I thought it would to get through the thin stretch of trees. I still could hear nothing. As I got to the edge of the trees I realized the reason I wasn't hearing anything was, because all the bandits had passed out. Bodies half dressed and some still partially in their armor laid all over the place on top of each other and in some of the most awkward positions you could think of. One man looked a little too close to the dying fire in the middle of the area. Wasted food and broken dishes and dumped sake lay scattered all around the camp with other various items. On the outskirts of the other side of the camp were the sleeping horses of the bandits that they had forgotten to take care of. I hadn't thought about taking a horse. It would be hard not to wake any of the bandits up while sneaking one of the horses away, but if I succeeded, I could get away from them and this place much faster.

I decided I would grab one of the horses. I tested my injuries before I started to navigate around the unconscious bodies. I found all my pain was more like a deep ache now, which was much more manageable. I took two deep breaths and stepped out from the trees. I hated to be exposed, and I kept jumping every time someone snored particularly loud or twitched slightly, but my desperation and determination jerked me onward with a silent focus. As I was about to arrive by the horses my foot hit the ground at an odd angle and it brought me crashing down to the ground. Now this was not a small crash, this is one of those stupid crashes that happen when you are being so overly careful and slow that you fall any way on a pile of objects that just happen to fall very noisily for quite a few more seconds than you would like. I stayed completely still on the ground not even daring to breathe (I don't think I could have breathed even if I had tried to). I felt that my fear was going to choke me. I didn't even twitch. I stayed like that forever waiting for an angry shout or a blow in my side, but nothing at all happened. I decided I could keep going. I pushed myself up on shaky limbs as silently as possible. Now, from my fear, I hurried over to the horses. I found a long, limbed chestnut that was already awake and looked like it could run fast.

The horse still had all of its riding gear plus saddle bags full of stolen goods. I got to work on unlatching all the bags from the saddle. One bag was particularly heavy and familiar black metal could be seen. I eagerly opened the bag seeing that both of my twin, black, metal swords and my leather vest with the straps on it that carried my swords were in the bag. I had given up on my weapons, just wanting away from here, but this was amazing to me. The one thing I didn't want to leave is my swords. I realized that the scabbards for my swords were gone. I swung around scanning the campsite for them. I found that a certain pot bellied bandit had snuggled up with them. I slapped my head full force with frustration and then quickly regretted it. Even with the drugs my head was not impervious. I tiptoed over to the man and grabbed hold of the end of one of my scabbards. I tried to be slow and gentle as not to wake him, but he had a grip on my scabbards as if they were life preservers to a drowning man. I yanked on my scabbards as hard as I could and I went flying backwards with them as they came out of the bandit's grip. The man started to stir and I quickly looked for one of my swords. Just as he was starting to sit up I took the hilt of my sword and bashed it into the man's skull. He collapsed onto the ground with a soft thump. I paused a moment and waited to see if anyone else would wake up, no one did. I quickly sheathed my blades and threw on the leather vest and adjusted the straps that held my swords so that I could be more comfortable. I latched the swords to my back and felt the familiar and comforting weight of my swords on my back again.

I was finally ready. I heaved myself onto the horse. My weight was not welcome, but the chestnut took it well. I took up the reigns and started to walk him into the woods and away from my prison. I just had to get onto a main road and then I would just keep galloping. I pressed my heel into the horse to spur it forward and to pick up speed. We eventually broke through the dense woods. The undergrowth was thick around and in these woods and I could see quite a few scratches on my horse (I had no idea which of my injuries were new and which were old). It was almost completely dark here, but you could still just barely make out the worn down road. I reared the chestnut into a brake neck pace of a gallop.

I felt relief flood my emotions and could feel my body relax a bit more. I had escaped! I was free! Then I heard it, the thundering of other fast pounding hooves. _"No, NO! I can't get caught now! Where did they even come from!"_ I glanced behind me and saw, to my absolute horror that about nine maybe ten more of the bandits on fast running horses flooded onto the main road from the woods. "Shit"! I muttered out loud as I pushed my horse even faster. I was desperate. I couldn't get caught again; I wouldn't survive the beating this time. I pushed my horse faster and from all I could see we could have been galloping on air.

I could hear the loud shouts and whoops as they chased after me. I heard a whistle in the air and then saw an arrow go by me on my left. "Shit! They have arrows"! My fear spiked up another level. More arrows were flying by me and the shouting was getting louder, luckily they could see about as well as I could. Even with the drug the pounding of the horse's hooves were jolting me hard. _"The shouts really are getting louder"_ I noticed in a panicky way. They were making me a sport. I was just a game to entertain them. I felt like I could no longer breathe and I was so tired I felt like I might pass out. By now I had a death grip on the reigns and as I strained my ears I realized that the shouts weren't just behind me, they were on both sides of me to! Just as I realized this a massive force of armed men on horses came flooding in on to the road from both sides of the woods. My horse reared in mid gallop and I was thrown off onto my back, (of all things) on top of my swords. No amount of drugs could have stopped the earth shattering pain that shot all the way up and down my spine. I couldn't move. There was no fighting through this pain, it was not an option. I just lay there stunned. I didn't know what was going on, I could hear the clang of weapons and loud war cries, but it didn't matter, because there were just too many of these bandits. They were going to find me and beat me and I knew from the amount of pain I was in that there would be no surviving this time. I didn't want to die! I had just gotten my life back! Now it is being torn from me again! For the last time I shed tears from pain and from an absolute lack of hope. I felt large hands grab me under the shoulders and legs for my final beating before everything fell into complete and utter darkness.


	2. Chapter 1:Relief

I sighed in content. My mind had no thought. I just let my consciousness float in and out as I enjoyed my body's complete feel of warmth and comfort. My body was heavy yet in my head I felt like I was floating. I let my consciousness float away and let natural sleep take me again.

The second time I started to come around I more fully woke. I could feel comfortable warmth on my back and I could see some light through my closed eyelids. I was pleasantly comfortable. I could feel the warm cover over me and the wonderfully soft yet firm padding under me. There was nothing under my head, but I was simply fine with this fact. I realized my body, as a whole, felt stiff and weary, as if I hadn't twitched let alone moved from this position in a vast amount of time. Usually when I slept, it would be on my side or my back, but now I realized I was sleeping on my stomach, my hands at my sides.

My eyes slowly peeled open. The room was bright, but not blinding. As my eyes were at least as open as I could get them in my groggy state I saw that my bed laid on a wooden floor and that the walls were all wood frames with cream paper coverings. This style of room seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it. In the corner of the room I could see wooden, kneeling trays, though I wasn't able to see if there was anything on them.

In a way I wanted to care that I was in a strange room with no idea where I was or why, but I couldn't. I just wanted to slip back into the comfort of this bed and enjoy sleep again. I closed my eyes. After ten minutes of just lying there, I realized sleep was avoiding me at the moment. I decided it was time to get up.

I started to move my arms up towards my face when I realized they felt extremely stiff. My arms contained a dull ache, and they almost felt bound. As my arm became visible I saw that it was almost completely covered in clean bandaging. I stared at my arm, puzzled. _"Who could have wrapped my arm?" _Now it felt more important that I find out where I was as some of my last memories of my kidnap and escape pushed themselves to the forefront of my mind. Fear hadn't quite hit me yet, but I was extremely wary. I quickly pushed myself up and then came crashing back down on my stomach as the extreme feeling of painfully tender, healing wounds and horribly soar limbs shocked my system.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow," the first came out as a dry bark, the others were pitiful whimpers. "Why in the hell did I do that?" I moaned. This was going in my, top ten things not to do when injured list, joy. I was limp on the mat trying to avoid movement like an animal avoids the patch of grass where an unknown sound came from.

I wasn't sure how long I just lay there (probably only a few seconds), but I couldn't lay there forever. Then I heard quite steps coming from outside my room and I waited in silent anticipation. They seemed to become more silent the closer they got to my room, and it was making me jumpy and hyper aware of everything.

I finally saw a shadowed silhouette on the screen door and with fingers as quite as its feet the person slid open part of my screen wall as quietly as was allowed from the material. What was revealed was a small, young woman with dark hair pulled up and delicate white skin and as I stared at her I realized that I was, well, staring at her instead of faking sleep or delusion, or something! I felt the squeeze on my heart as I panicked a little, but it was too late. She stared at me a second longer then quickly pivoted on her petite feet, hurrying back from where she came from yelling, "sensei! She is awake, she is awake sensei!"

I laid my head back down and kept my eyes on what I figured was a door to this room (the door looked exactly like the wall!) I didn't have to wait long as there were louder and obviously heavier weighted footsteps than before coming in my general direction. The small opening to my room was slammed open as a short man with steely gray hair and a wrinkled face came in, the smaller woman from before followed in behind him, respectively. "Miss Huromi, hurry and help her up!" demanded the man.

"Yes sensei", even her voice was quite. She hurried over to me and placed surprisingly strong hands on my shoulders. '_Oh Crap! They are going to make me move!' _I really didn't want to move after that horrific first attempt, but I didn't have a choice in this. "Miss Huromi" as she was called, had a gentle yet firm touch as she made me start to sit up and readjust my limbs.

It took a lot more help than I would like to admit to get me up and I am pretty sure my face was going to freeze into a grimace. The older man went over to those wooden kneeling trays I had noticed earlier. I couldn't see what he was doing though. I was finally in a sitting position, but Miss Huromi had to support me or I would have fallen back down.

The wrinkled faced man came to kneel in front of me bringing the tray with him. I felt extremely wary and wanted to back away a few feet, but that wasn't going to work in my condition. On closer inspection this man was younger than he looked, he was still older, but not ancient. He had hard eyes and a stocky kind of build and white strips of hair decorated his head.

He grabbed my arm and I winced a bit. He started working on unwrapping my arm while Miss Huromi worked steadily on my other arm. I felt like a limp puppet being pulled this way and that. I usually enjoyed a good amount of personal space, now I was experiencing the horrible annoyance of having none at all as they moved to my apparently wrapped legs.

The man, who by now I assumed was a healer, gave my limbs a long hard stare and I experienced my normal reaction of quickly wanting to hide my permanently scared body from view. "Good" he finally said. "They are healing quite nicely." He turned to Miss Huromi, "take her to the bathes since she is finally awake and then apply the salve to her wounds and rebandage her."

"Yes sensei", the man got up with one last glance at me and simply did a half stomp out the door. That's all he said, no name, explanation, nothing! This day kept on getting better. I had no clue where I was, who these people were or why, frankly, I wasn't dead. I specifically remember being chased and caught by bandits, again. For now I was going to try to observe as much as I could before speaking became absolutely necessary.

Miss Huromi practically pulled me to my feet. My breath forcefully left my lungs and I about crumpled back to the ground. Miss Huromi quickly put my arm over her shoulder while fixing the light material, robe on my shoulders, making sure I was properly covered (not like I wasn't already rapped up like a mummy man).

The joys of moving were quickly becoming foreign to me as Miss Huromi practically dragged me onward. We had gone out of my room onto what seemed like an outdoor hallway. We were walking around a type of wooden deck that was less than a foot off the ground and wrapped all the way around the building as far as I could see. The building's roof covered a bit more than just the deck and the walls were made of wood unless they were openings to more rooms.

I noticed, as we reached some stone steps and crossed into a cared for yard, that Miss Huromi was having some trouble holding me. She seemed hard working, but she was just so small. With a grunt I tightened my grip on her shoulder and put more effort into carrying myself with my own legs.

"Oh please don't exert yourself, I will get you there soon" Miss Huromi chided in a slightly worried tone and stared at my face, as if by doing so it would get me to relax again. I broke into a light sweat and tried to keep my face from showing my pain, this really did hurt like hell. I glanced at Miss Huromi and sighed.

"I am fine, it will be quicker this way" I looked straight ahead and focused on walking.

"Please, it is only a little farther, don't push yourself." Her voice never got any louder; it always stayed reserved and quite.

"If it's not that much farther then it doesn't matter if I keep walking." So much for not talking, oh well, had to happen sooner or later. Miss Huromi was about to argue with me again, but I finally saw a large wooden building that was at the edge of a forest. "Is that where we are heading?" I huffed a little as I asked.

She resigned herself and answered, "Yes." My heart was pounding from the effort it took to walk and my limbs screamed for rest, and the headache made it slightly hard to focus, but I kept going. I just wanted out of the open. Miss Huromi slid open the door and revealed a large entering room with thick white drapes covering the entryway into the next room.

I felt a little relief at being inside again, but the stitch in my side took away from that feeling. We entered into the next room which contained a large wooden bathing tub that about took up the whole room. There were various other draped doorways and shelves all along the walls with assorted buckets, cloths, soaps and towels.

"We will use one of the smaller rooms in case anyone comes by" informed Miss Huromi as she took me through one of the other doorways. This room was much smaller and contained an obviously much smaller bathing tub that still took up almost the whole room. Miss Huromi eagerly sat me down on a wooden bench and I rested my head against the wall as I took deep calming breaths. Miss Huromi disappeared through the doorway then quickly reappeared with towels, a bucket with a ladle, soap and a cloth. She set them down near the tub and then pulled down a wooden shoot from the wall that hung over the tub. She pulled on a rope that released a stopper inside the shoot and steaming water came pouring out, making the room feel like a sauna.

I closed my eyes and leaned back on the wall. '_I feel like I could almost fall asleep again" _I entertained my mind with that notion until I felt hands at my neck. I jumped and slapped them away, body still screaming from my various injuries."What are you doing?" I accused, acid dripping from my voice.

"Miss, your bandages must be removed before you enter the bath." Miss Huromi was very calm, but I felt like I needed a wall between us like someone needs a wall between them and a snake. I hated when anyone got to see even a glimpse of my scarred body. My eternal shame out there for everyone to see was not on my most comfortable activities list. I continued to glare Miss Huromi down, but she seemed unfazed. "Miss, you don't have anything I haven't seen before."

A snort escaped me. She probably thought I was shy, but she had a point. She had already seen my arms and legs and she had probably helped bandage me in the first place. "Fine" my voice was still echoing with things unsaid.

Miss Huromi worked quickly, taking off the bandages while I removed my robe. I didn't watch to see if she reacted to my hideous body. She grabbed my arm again and helped me into the tub. The water burned, but I welcomed it. I sunk in till the water reached my chin and completely covered my body.

I closed my eyes, but I didn't relax. I waited for the questions but they never came. All of a sudden I felt fingers on my head and start to rub through my hair. I tensed, even at Miss Huromi's gentle touch and my fingers twitched as I held back the urge to slap her hands away. I didn't hate Miss Huromi, but let's just say I had a huge personal space bubble.

Her fingers worked diligently and thoroughly through my hair as I settled on staring at the wall. All my cuts still burned and my body still ached, there really was no way to be comfortable. I didn't feel in the best conditions, but I was frustratingly clueless at the moment about my situation and it was nagging at my mind.

I felt the smothering heat of the water and my face slightly flush, my stiff muscles cracked a bit as I tried to work out the soreness. Miss Huromi stopped her delicate thread of fingers through my hair and took a ladle and rinsed my hair. I flinched as she placed a soapy cloth on my shoulder and began to scrub, but I quickly placed a hand on her wrist to stop her. "I can do it myself" I said without looking back. I let go of her wrist and signaled for her to give me the cloth.

"Of course miss" she handed me the cloth and I began on my arms. I scrubbed quickly, for my limbs were visible, but my wounds were too raw to do so. I stared at my arms in disgust. There were numerous, permanent scars that covered my arms in darkened slashes. They almost looked like someone mixed the pieces of two different puzzles together and tried to see what odd creation would come out of it.

I shook my head, wallowing in self loathing was not going to make anything better. I glanced back at Miss Huromi and again was struck by how small and fragile this woman seemed to be. "You are referred to as Miss Huromi", it came out as more of a statement than a question.

"Yes I am miss."

"Miss Huromi", I turned so that I was looking her square in the eyes, "where am I?"

She gave me a small sympathetic smile as she said "you are at Yonezawa castle in Oshuu".

"Oshuu?" I tried to think. Had I seen that on any maps or heard the name. My mind was racing, but I was drawing a blank.

"Yes, while the army was coming home they found you and the pursuing bandits. After the bandits were taken care of you were brought back here to be healed". I thought about this, so I was being saved not kidnapped, well that's a first. I felt the hope start in my chest, but I kept it down until I knew for sure.

"So I am in the land of the rising sun, Japan?" I almost felt like I was begging her. She gave me an odd look like I had just asked the most obvious question in the world.

"Yes" the word drew out slowly like she didn't know if complications would ensue from her answer. My eyes widen though the rest of my face stayed the same. I had made it all the way back; I was truly in Japan after fourteen years. I felt like crying and jumping, but whether it was from joy or just the release of fourteen years worth of tension and mistrust I didn't know. "Miss! Miss!, what's wrong?" Miss Huromi quickly tried wiping at my face and I realized I really had started to cry.

I turned around quickly wiping furiously at my eyes, "I'm fine, really". Miss Huromi seemed to calm down, but she continued to wipe at my face and I still felt like slapping at her hands.

"Miss would you mind if I asked your name"

"My name? Uh, well it is S…" I stopped short, I had just been about to tell her the first fake name that came to my mind, but why not tell her my real name. I had escaped, he was gone and he didn't have power over me anymore. "It's Michiyo Arashi". The name rolled of my tongue awkwardly and I felt exposed like I had just given away a very heavy personal secret. It had been a long time since I had been able to use my real name.

"A thousand generations of storm huh? It is a very pretty name Miss Michiyo, my name is Huromi Saiya by the way, I will be here to help oversee your recovery." She seemed more talkative all of a sudden, but I can't say I minded.

"Thank you Miss Huromi, I am sure I owe you and the other doctor my life." She gave me a warm smile and a nod. The bathing was done and getting out of the bath tub was an embarrassingly difficult task, and after towel drying my ridiculously waist long hair Miss Huromi set to work on applying a greenish salve to my wounds and then rapping me up again.

"Miss Michiyo you have such pretty red hair, almost like a blazing fire. How did you ever manage to get it that color?" I stared at her in confusion for a second, was there some way of choosing how you looked before you were born?

"What do you mean?"

"Well is there a specific blend that turns your hair that color or is it one natural ingredient?"

"Um, Miss Huromi, this is my natural hair color. I haven't done anything to it."

"Oh my, really? I have never seen hair this color before!" She continued to ogle my hair and she even took strands of it in her hands. Ok so she must be someone who felt at ease with anyone, because again my personal space bubble was completely shot to hell now.

We eventually made it back to my room and I still couldn't walk without huffing and that stitch in my side returned. It was slightly past sunset and I could feel the air start to cool down. Miss Huromi had to help me back down onto my stomach on new changed sheets. Apparently I wasn't allowed to sleep on my back.

"Miss Michiyo, I will return in the morning, is there anything you need?" She had a warm, small smile and a caring attitude, but I was done for the day. I needed to think.

"No, I am fine, goodbye Miss Huromi." She nodded and quietly left the room, shutting the screen doors behind her. My hand rose to cover my eyes. I could feel myself start to shake and I knew I was crying this time. I couldn't really explain why, but I was here, I was in Japan. I didn't have to become a monster for him and he would never be a part of my life ever again. I was free. I slipped into a deep restful slumber with that being my last thought.

**_Sorry about the really long wait, I had some really horrible technical problems. I will update a lot faster now. Please tell me what you think. (Cracked computer screens really suck by the way!) =D_**


	3. Chapter 2: Purpose

The days that went by soon after were not as easy as the first day I was awake. The over use of drugs on my body slowed down my ability to heal and I could eat little without throwing it back up. I caught several colds and at one point I couldn't even keep liquids down. I almost died of dehydration alone.

Huromi-san was very dutiful to me. She would help me with anything and everything. She didn't ask me any more questions about myself and I found I was grateful to her for that. She still tried to make conversation with me and I still only had short answers for her. I liked her soft chatter though; I wasn't used to such gentle company.

I had been at one of the outer detached buildings of Yonezawa castle for several weeks now. As I sat in my bed I stared at my hands. The rough calluses on my hands had faded just a little bit. My back and shoulders were still wrapped with bandages, but the rest of me had healed finally. _'If this stuff was mine I would burn it'. _The thought jumped into my head as I sat and "healed" in the same bed, in the same room I had for several weeks, again.

The only time I had been outside this room was to go to the bathing house. I got out from under the covers and stood up, my night clothes falling into place. I was still sore and I could feel the uncomfortable pull in my movements. Sliding open the paper door, I had to cover my eyes from the intense light. _'Wow, I have been cooped up for so long that I forgot how intense the sun can be'._

"Michiyo-san what are you doing! You need to stay inside!" Huromi-san came over in a panic. With her long, straight black hair pulled back out of her face and her kimono sleeves tied back you could really see the youth in her features. She tried to shoo me back inside with her pale skinned hands.

"Come on Huromi-san, can't I even stand outside for a bit?"

"No, absolutely not, Todomu- san has not given you permission to move yet."

"Fine", I took a huge breath and held it. I continued to stare at Huromi-san as my face went from red to blue and my vision started to get spotty.

"Wait! Michyo-san breathe, please breathe!" She panicked and started to shake my shoulders. I let my breath out in a huge gust unable to hold it any longer. Huromi-san sighed, "why did you do that?"

Wincing from her grip I replied, "Todomu-san didn't give me permission to breathe either so I thought it best to not overstep my boundaries."

"Michiyo-san don't…"

"Huromi-san, as an extremely competent woman I am sure you can see that a little sun won't do me any harm right?" She looked like she was about to argue and I couldn't help, but feel irritated.

"Fine, you can _**sit **_out here for a little bit today." Her expression was annoyed and slightly red from frustration. "I will bring you your breakfast in a minute." I noticed when she was frustrated she bit her lip a little and stiffened up.

"Thanks, can you bring me some clothes also; I don't want to be found outside in my night clothes."

"There should be a trunk in your room that has some spare clothes for patients. Ignore the men's clothing; there should be some kimonos in there that will fit you."

"Ok, thanks Huromi-san." She walked away and I smiled a bit. She took her job as the old man's assistant extremely seriously. She worked hard and unselfishly, but I couldn't stand this place anymore. I was being smothered and something else was bothering me. My swords were not in the room I had been recovering in. Huromi-san didn't know where they were and the old man (The doctor, Todomu-san) would just say that patients should shut up and heal quicker.

I walked back into the simple almost vacant room. A wooden chest was in the corner and I opened its creaky lid. There were a few solid colored, simple kimonos in there that I completely ignored. The rest was men's clothing. I found some sturdy black pants that were a little too big for me, a dark blue shirt that would cover my neck and dark worn out boots.

I looked around and found some cloth that I ripped up and bound my chest with. Men's clothing isn't as thick as women's, so you have to be extra careful that everything is snug so it doesn't show through when you move. I proceeded to dress. The shirt was baggy so I tied it in a not at the hem. The sleeves ended at the elbow so I had to bandage up my arms to cover the rest of them. As I laced up the boots I realized that the waist of the pants was too big and I had to use a belt to keep them on my hips.

As I stretched testing out the new clothes I realized my waist length hair was still down and unkempt. I used a small comb, given to me by Huromi-san, to yank out the knots and snarls in my hair. I then tied up my hair with a leather thong.

I looked at myself using a small hand mirror. My face probably pleased me more than anything else about myself. It was the only place on my body that wasn't marked with darkened scars. I felt the smoothness of my face as liquid gold eyes stared back at me. With my deep, fiery red hair and the color of my eyes they made for an odd combination. I didn't think it was ugly, nor did I think it was beautiful, just unusual.

'_Enough with this nonsense,'_ I put the mirror away and walked out of the room leaving the door open. Jumping off the wooden walkway that surrounded the building I landed in the grass a foot below. I was still sore, but in a good way. "Sorry Huromi-san." I decided to walk the grounds of Yonezawa castle.

As I walked between the couple of small buildings full of rooms for the sick and injured I realized that the compounds were slightly isolated from the rest of the grounds. I became aware of this fact as soon as I saw Yonezawa Castle itself. It was grand, huge, with large, ornate decorations on each of the several stories. I couldn't help but stare in amazement, for even when I was still in Japan as a child I had never seen a lord's castle.

There was only a single, large, stoned path that led away from the compounds. It went in the direction of the castle so, I followed it. The farther I walked the more I became aware of huge activity going on up further ahead. I couldn't see a thing, but the racket was thunderous.

The path ended up wrapping around the castle and leading into the main grounds from a back way. I had heard Huromi-san talk about Oshuu's army, but this was the first time I had seen actual proof of its existance. In fact I was assaulted with the entire army of Oshuu it seemed, from the looks of it. There were various buildings all over the place.

It was hard to make out what was what. There were soldiers everywhere, some in uniform and some not so much. Equipment was being moved, horses taken care of, men eating and sitting around laughing or yelling. The sheer business of so many bodies around me was overwhelming in a way.

I stayed on the edge of the crowd while making my way through the grounds. I wasn't sure what I was doing here at this point beyond the fact that I was intensely curious to see all that there was here.

Loud laughter made its way to my ears as I noticed that there was a group of men heading my way. At this point I didn't want to be noticed I just wanted to observe. I ducked into the space between two buildings off to my right and made my way behind them. The building itself was rather large, but what surprised me was that there was some type of wooden corral behind it with a small group of men gathered around it.

I was about to head a different way so as not to be noticed, but my mind quickly changed as I heard a smart CRACK! "Wipe the floor with him Akihiro!"

"Don't you dare let that blowhard get a move in Ichiro!"

I walked up right behind two men on the outer edge of the small group. They didn't even notice me. "Hey, what are they even fighting over this time?"

"Apparently Ichiro found some pretty good weapons from those bandits the fourth division took down on the way home a couple of weeks ago. Of course he started bragging to anyone who could stand it and Akihiro felt it was his job to knock him down a few pegs," both men started to laugh good naturedly.

"Yeah, and put himself back on the main stage," the man kept on laughing.

"Yes, well anyways," said the original speaker, his hand clasped on his friend's shoulder, "the bet is now whoever wins with the boken gets to keep those fancy swords over there." My gaze followed where he was pointing and zeroed in on the prize of the competition, my swords. I felt frozen for a second then, blood boiled.

"Those? Why would they fight over those things? Look at the scabbards, they look like they could break at any moment!"

"But you haven't seen the swords themselves!" exclaimed the first man excitedly. "They are pieces of work all right. I swear there wasn't a single scratch on them and they were made from some sort of black metal. For all the crap those scabbards look like, those twin blades look ten times as gorgeous!"

I was hardly paying attention to them at this point. '_Bandits my ass, they were strapped to my back_!' My attention focused onto the duel and my eyes narrowed. It ended pretty soon after that as the man, supposedly named Akihiro, took advantage of a side opening his opponent had failed to cover and side swiped him in the gut. The man named Ichiro fell to the ground and before he could recover Akihiro had the wooden boken pointing at his throat.

"Pay up Ichiro, you've lost." Ichiro slammed his fist on the ground in anger at his defeat.

"Get them yourself," came his bitter reply. Akihiro grinned even more and moved to go grab my swords at the other end of the little arena. '_No way in hell_!' I pushed the men in front of me out of the way, eliciting a few angry shouts, and using one hand I jumped into the arena. All eyes turned on me. Akihiro stared at me in sheer, jaw dropped shock.

"What the, who are you little miss?" I didn't say a word; I was too enraged to speak, so I made my intentions clear by grabbing Ichiro's fallen boken and pointing it straight at Akihiro's face. Shocked silence rang true for a few seconds more till the whole, small group burst into laughter, including Akihiro. "Hahaha, that's a good one little girl," he had a hand patting his stomach, "that was pretty entertaining, hahahaha!"

Ichiro, who had been about to exit the arena came back up to me saying, "come on, you have already made a fool of yourself, time to give the boken back." He made to grab for the boken, but I switched my grip so that it flipped back behind my hand and came back down on his wrist. "Ow! Why you little..." he was cut short as I swung the boken in front of his face, mere inches away.

"Where did you get those swords? because I know for a fact that you didn't swipe them from any bandits." My eyes narrowed in my rage. I wanted to strike him down, because no one touches my swords. They were mine and no one else's.

"Watch your tongue you insolent wench! You have no idea..."

"Oh, I have every idea," my words were filled with venom, "but in the end you are not my main priority seeing as you lost the match. My main problem is the victor, him." I swung around to face Akihiro, completely ignoring the furious Ichiro. And that's when he lunged for me.

He came straight at me, no technique or style, just charged straight at the harmless "little girl", planning on over powering me. I didn't turn until the last minute. With my hand switching to grip the boken so the length of it went behind me, I did a quick spin and jammed the tip into his stomach as if I were actually stabbing him. And then, while he was clutching his stomach I took the handle and rammed it up under his jaw. He went flying into the dirt, coughing and gasping to regain breath.

I faced back towards Akihiro, "ready?" There was a lot muttering all around me. Akihiro looked stupefied, like what he had just seen defied reality itself.

"What the hell," he muttered. In a louder voice he called out saying, "fine, little girl, I'll take you on, but I won't go easy," his tone of voice made him sound angry, which he very well could be. We each took our stances and I was aware of how off center I felt. I usually had a sword in each hand, but now I only had a light weight, wooden boken.

Akihiro had more technique than Ichiro, but arrogance leaked from every part of his being and soaked into his swordsmanship. I dodged his first strike and his second, and his third. The control was lacking in his technique making his movements sloppy. He kept coming at me with large swings and unguarded openings. I was starting to become aware of a problem though, I was getting tired way too quickly. My hand had a hard time keeping a good grip on the boken and I could feel the injuries on my back stretch uncomfortably. I gave a knowing smirk anyway at Akihiro as he was still failing to land even one scratch on my person; this infuriated him to no end.

Then Akihiro made for a desperate lunge when a deep voice rang through the area, "What is the meaning of this!" That is when my concentration slipped, ever so slightly, and I glanced in the direction of the voice. Akihiro slipped past my guard and landed a heavy blow to my side. I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me and I was sent towards the ground, but I used all the power in my legs that I could muster and kicked Akihiro's legs out from under him, taking him with me.

As we both landed on the ground I tried not to cry out at the pain in my back. It was excruciating, but I still struggled to get myself back up before I lost the match and my swords. I was just barely on all fours when Akihiro was up and making a swing at my head 'crap'! Then there was the whistle of metal and a glint through the air and Akihiro's boken fell to pieces in his hands, followed by a piece of his hair that fluttered to the ground.

The sudden fear on his face was beyond surprising. I tried to glance backwards, but I was suddenly being hoisted up off my hands and knees by the arm. The man helping me to my feet was tall, thick muscled and well built. He had brown hair smoothed back from his face, intense brown eyes and an overpowering feeling of presence, like you were just pushed out of the picture.

He was not rough, but his grip was iron and completely inescapable. He re-sheathed the sword in his hand and I noticed the second one he had at his waist. I was startled at the underlying fury in his voice as it again rang out in its deep tone, "soldier, what are you doing?"

"Boss Katakura I..I was just...I mean..," his voice trailed off as he floundered to find a suitable explanation for the man.

"I challenged him," I said in clear voice, "I challenged him for my swords."

The intense man's gaze shifted down to me, his hand still holding me up by the arm. "You?"

"Those are my swords you lying..!"

"SILENCE!" his voice silenced everything; even nature itself seemed to freeze. "A soldier of the Date army should know better than to pick fights with civilians. Maybe the fact that you were unable to defeat an injured girl will humble your swelled head, until it does you are on stable duty until further notice."

Akihiro looked like he was about ready to argue for a moment, but thought better of it and gave a small, stiff nod before heading towards what I assumed was the stables. "Ichiro, go with him."

"Yes Boss," he gave in more easily than Akihiro. Okay I was losing feeling in my arm. I cleared my throat to grab his attention.

"Is it necessary to keep holding my arm?"

He glanced at me for a second, then he slowly let go. I guess he was just being careful and making sure I didn't drop on the spot, "my apologies."

I rubbed my arm. I didn't say much, because frankly I was wary of this stranger. He obviously held a high position in Oshuu's Army and he was smart, you could see it in the way he looked at everything, like he was analyzing and considering everything very carefully.

He walked away for a second and came back holding my swords in one of his hands. "Follow me." I followed without a word. I was a little slower, but I refused to show how much my back was still bothering me. He led me to one of the larger buildings and into a room. It was much like mine in style, but it was the whole room without screens to make sections of it. He sat down, his legs tucked underneath him, and I followed to do the same. It took me a second longer to do so than usual, my back was throbbing by now.

He stared at me for another second, calculating, "why are you so eager to get a hold of weapons?" The man was suspicious.

"I'm eager to get a hold of MY weapons." he raised an eyebrow in question. "They were strapped to my back the last time I saw them, they were never property of bandits." I couldn't help, but be annoyed, the swords were so damn close and the man's silence had me more on edge than anything.

He thought over my answer, staring me in the eyes the whole time. I sat straight and remained with a cool face, but my back felt like it would give out any second. Small, unnoticeable spasms raced up and down my back muscles. All of a sudden he rapped his knuckles on the wooden floor and a soldier came in. "I cannot allow civilians to have weapons in their possession, but I will also not allow these swords to be used by any of the soldiers." He handed my swords to the soldier, "I suggest you return to the compounds and rest."

That comment got my attention. He knew me or at least why I was here. A plan was rapidly forming in my head. I gave the man a curt nod as if in acceptance of the situation, "may I ask for my healer to be called? I will need help getting back. Her name is Huromi Saiya."

He gave a nod and walked out of the room. As soon as he shut the door I was up. Now was not the time to wince in pain, the time had come to leave. I couldn't stay here forever; there was no purpose here for me. I sighed a bit in sadness, I had gotten used to it here. It was too bad, but I knew I would have to leave at some point. Getting my swords back took main priority now; they were all I had.

With that I slipped out of the room and took a look at my surroundings. I had noticed the soldier from earlier turn left so I headed that way to. It didn't take long to find the same guard standing outside an arsenal looking rather bored and un-alert. I gave a triumphant smirk, '_here we go_'. I took off running and was on the guard before he knew what was happening. I knocked his feet out from under him and kept on going into the arsenal before he hit the ground.

My swords had been carelessly thrown onto a table. I rushed past the walls of spears, swords and other various weapons and took a firm hold on my swords. I flew back out the door and knocked the guard over again just as he was about back on his feet. "Intruder! Intruder!" he managed to yell out.

I kept on running, heading towards the bamboo forest behind the arsenal. It wasn't long before at least two soldiers were chasing me, the one from before joining them. "Halt! Come back here!" The looks on their faces were none to pleasant.

'_Damn_,' pant, pant, '_I am slowing down_!' My pace was dropping and my sides were heaving, I didn't have a chance in hell of outrunning these guys right now. Usually, when I was uninjured, this would be a piece of freaking cake! now, not so much. Frankly speaking I didn't want to fight these guys. I was already considered a thief, but to truly repay Yonezawa castle's inhabitants by beating up their soldiers didn't sit well with me. Also my back wouldn't come out unscathed.

I decided to stray off the path and into the thick of the bamboo. I hid behind some stalks. The soldiers were momentarily confused, but then one made a motion to the others in my direction and I rushed to cram my sheaths into my belt. My hands fumbled with my once familiar swords trying to fit them in place. "Finally!" my grip held firm and I swung my swords from there sheathes for all I was worth. The blades cut through the bamboo with wicked ease and sent huge stalks toppling towards the soldiers. They jumped out of the way falling on their butts in their haste and crying out in alarm.

There was now a huge road block between us and I couldn't help, but let a short burst of laugher escape. "See ya around boys, I'm off," I gave a two fingered solute and turned to keep on running. My next step didn't even hit the ground; I was forced into my own roadblock by wind? It was like the sky itself just let out a gale force wind from its depths.

The groaning sounds caught my attention. My gaze traveled upward; I thought I saw blue sparks travel through the bamboo, '_what is that_?' And then the forest itself came crashing down. I gave a yelp as hundreds of shoots came down in a thunderous roar. My eyes watered and my throat coughed as a low whistle reached my ears.

"You're pretty impressive, but I don't like a tepid battle." A man became visible through the dust, dressed in a dark gray yukata and a type of blue, sleeveless jacket thrown over shoulders. The most important part about him though was the unsheathed katana he held in one hand.

"Boss!" the soldiers were watching from a distance. I could feel my confusion; I mean who the hell was this joker?

"Sorry, but I wasn't really anticipating any competition," my answer came back rough from the dust.

The cocky grin that dominated his face widened, "those are interesting weapons you have there, and it looks like you can use them to."

"She stole them Boss!" I scowled in their direction.

"Hm, where are you going little girl, out to get caught by more bandits? I twitched, my eyes narrowed, my first impression; he's a cocky bastard.

"What exactly do you want?"

He gave a shrug, smirk still in place, "you're gonna hurt yourself if you continue, little girl, you should turn around." That's when I went for him, my anger rising in my chest. I rushed at him and right before I reached him I sidestepped to the right and took a swing at his side. I didn't even see him move, his sword was just in front of mine. The impact jarred my entire arm, all the way up to my shoulder. I felt the pain and I panicked, if I didn't finish quickly my back was going to be too screwed up to even move five inches away from Yonezawa castle. I started to swing wildly, furiously. He blocked every one with practiced ease, "keep it cool." He gave off an amused, slightly lazy look, with his one blue eye, wait, what!

My distraction was his open invitation. All of a sudden I was on the defensive as he started hacking away at me. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was losing it. My concentration was non-existent, and with the sharp pains running up and down my back like cracks of lightning, all I could do was swing like an inexperienced child.

Finally my back gave out and I fell down to one knee with the one eyed man's sword pointed at my throat. My breathing was ragged and my limbs were shaking. Gravity was working extra hard to bring my face closer with the earth. Sheathing, his sword he brought himself down to my level, "bandits or failed escape plans you just keep missing the party." He looked like he was about to laugh, damn smirk. "And you messed up your back again little girl," oh how I wanted to hit him.

"You guys go over to the compounds and get old man Cho."

"Boss!"

"Go," they hesitated, but they gave in and ran back towards the castle. I got a closer look at the man. He had brown, slightly messy hair, a well defined face and yes, one eye. He used a tsuba as an eye patch to cover his right eye, but his left was definitely more captivating. It was an intense and clear eye. It was a pale blue, but it almost seemed electric in nature. "Hm," he turned to look at me, and I quickly went to stand so as not to be caught staring.

Remember number one on things not o do when injured list? Well this was number two. "The old man is going to eat us up over this, might as well get it out of the way."

"What are you tal…" my sentence dropped off as he drew his sword back. The air seemed to stand still and my eyes widened. I felt my heart literally increase and an energy flow right off from him. He took one swing and the bamboo road block from earlier was completely gone, decimated.

I was still speechless as he swung me up into strong arms and started to carry me back. "What are you doing?" I meant to struggle and then froze in pain for all my efforts.

He glanced down, eyebrow raised, "wanna try walking?"

I sighed in resignation and stared in any other direction. Damn, I hated the helplessness of it all, but crawling back to the compounds wasn't an option and utter defeat kept me at Yonezawa castle. I realized in all of that my swords were still locked in my hands. He kept a steady pace all the way to the compounds. I kept my gaze down as he had to carry me through the grounds where Oshuu's Army resided. And to the credit of my obvious good luck, everyone knew him. He must be a hell of a soldier; I thought back onto that little demonstration before, 'yeah, hell of a soldier.'

We got past the staring dopes and the curious "Boss?" ringing out here and there. When we got to the compounds he knew, oddly, exactly which one to go to. He even knew which room was mine. He set me down to sit on the raised, wooden walkway when my room door slid open with a wood shattering force.

There stood Todomu Choumi, a terrifying scowl gracing his face. He went straight over to me and slapped me on the back. My proceeding yelp was anything but inspiring. "That's what you get girl for messing with my work. And you," one finger pointed at the one eyed man, "what the hell did you do to her huh?" The one eyed man's gaze dropped off to the side, almost like a stubborn child getting scolded. But Todomu-san's question was only part of a long winded rant about how youth only created idiocy and how common sense must be purged from the mind during battle and what not.

Huromi –san came into my view looking stoically icy, crap this wasn't gonna be fun. My only hope in leniency from Todomu-san's rough medical treatment got flushed down the toilet with Huromi-san's tolerance. Then a shout could be heard, "Big Boss." We all turned to look; it was the soldier from earlier, the one I knocked to the ground in front of the arsenal. He came up running, his weird cylinder like hair-due bouncing as he did.

"Big Boss, Boss Katakura wants to see you in the war room right now."

"Yeah that sounds like Kojirou."

"Boss what about her swords?" He made to reach for the swords still locked in my hands. My hands gripped harder, turning my knuckles white.

"Leave them Yoshinao."

"But boss!"

"Leave them, they're fine,"I sighed in relief, he hadn't taken them away. The soldier sent a dirty look my way. The one eyed man made to leave, but stopped with his back towards me, "come find me again when you can little girl."

My jaw clenched, "What's your name?"

He turned back around slightly, cocky smirk in place, "Masamune."

"Arashi, and count on it." I glared him down. I would come back to fight him, this defeat would not be left unchecked.

"_**See you soon**_," the words rolled out and I realized they were English. He and the soldier headed back towards the army grounds one of Masamune's hands raised in a wave while he faced ahead. I watched him go. I could feel anger and annoyance, but I also felt drive and determination. It may only be for a little while, but I had found my purpose, something to strive for and keep me here. '_Masamune, you are going down_. '

**I really have no excuse for taking so long to update! It will get done much faster now don't worry. For everyone's information I am not following the outcomes and sequences of historical Sengoku Jidia battles of Japan. His is purely a fictional story. Capcom owns Sengoku Basara. And**_** Fate's Design**_, **since I finally got a new chapter out I challenge you to do the same. -JMichelleW**


	4. Chapter 3: Nothing

Fear and suffocation, I felt like my chest was being sucked into a black hole. I was stiff, unmoving, in mind and body. I knew the danger was closing, I knew I would be buried in it, drowned. The swirls of darkness curled around my tiny body lazily, but with intended, sinister purpose. Then the darkness turned into a monster. I was lifted into the air from under the arms. My small form started to shake.

His hands grasped at my sides and a thin lipped smile split his narrow face. The true terror came from his eyes, the awful, dark, void like eyes. They held absolutely no human-like emotions and it was in them I saw the blood. I saw images of mangled corpses, scattered blood, limp arms that used to hold me tight, and the now dead eyes that would have given me the world if they could have. And then my scream caught inside my throat as he said, "what a good little girl you'll be, a truly worthy prize."

I woke up screaming, apparently not as . My breathing was heavy and I could still feel that monster's hands under my arms. I was an ocean away from him and hchoked up as I had thought. It took a few moments with my hands covering my mouth to muffle and finally stop the screaminge still invoked a fear that felt like I was on the bottom of the ocean instead.

I barely stood on shaky limbs, rushing to slide open the door to my room. I was desperate to see light, to escape the darkness from my dream that still felt as if it was clinging to my skin. No luck, it was still the middle of the night and only a sliver of the moon hung in the sky, rendering the landscape dark and abstract. I rushed onto the wooden deck anyways; hoping the pressure in my chest would dissipate.

I got to the edge and let myself collapse into a sitting position. I was dripping with sweat and my limbs were shaking so badly that I clasped my hands to my chest trying to force my body to calm down. I made myself take deep, slow breaths, but I wouldn't close my eyes. The panic started to ease its grip from my chest until I was only dealing with small shivers.

I felt tired, but I knew true sleep would not come back to me. Not feeling the energy to get back up I lied down on the smooth wood beneath me. I laid listless and unaware for hours, not caring if I was seen. I kept my mind blank and focused on my breathing; I was close to unconsciousness, although I never quite made it there. It was only when the sun started to rise above the horizon did I notice how much time had passed.

I didn't feel up to the arduous task that movement required and for several minutes I continued to put it off. I finally did pull myself up and as I walked back into my room I tried to arrange some order into my night clothes as they had slipped and settled in awkward positions. I slid the door shut behind me and grabbed the spare clothes from the trunk in the corner. All that was left was to wait.

Every morning was like a game I was quickly becoming tired of. Since I was not allowed to do nearly anything during the day I would sleep fitfully at night, and when I decided I was growing bored of pretending to sleep, all I could do was sit and wait for Huromi-san to come check on me in the morning. I never considered myself a patient person. It wasn't that I couldn't wait, but I have never had the peace of knowing things will come that patience supposedly brings.

And since I am not particularly patient, time drags on. My thoughts wandered, but never far enough to hold my interest. I thought of my dream from the other night briefly, but decided not to analyze it. I was hesitant to let my memories surface, they tended to consume me.

My eyes drifted around the small room and landed on my swords. I felt my fingers give an involuntary twitch and I went to pick up my swords. I ran a gentle hand down their cracked and beaten sheathes that once shown with a darkened, black luster.

Disfigured, but still working, these sheathes and I had a lot in common. I looked up and down their lengths, trying to find new imperfections. I stopped at the golden hilts. They had small scratches and nix, but nothing new. I traced a finger over the lines carved into the hilts of each sword. The patterns resembled that of swirling wind, a storm.

Upon examination of the blades themselves I was disappointed with the state they were left in. Though the black, metal blades were not scratched, dirt and grime had been left to take residence on the blades. They were filthy and dull, damn the men who had left my swords in such a state.

I spent the better part of an hour trying to vigorously clean my swords with what little I had. So caught up in the rhythm of my hands, as they swept back and forth across the flat of a blade, I didn't even notice the sound of Huromi-san's quite footsteps approaching my room.

She slid the door open; her movements were quiet as always. I glanced back at her for a second, but my hands never faltered in their movements. I saw her freeze ever so slightly as she set eyes upon me. She pulled herself out of it and placed a simple meal in front of me with a jerky grace that could only come from frustration.

"Make sure not to strain your back Michiyo-san." Her voice was restrained and strictly business.

"Hm," I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Huromi-san had been stoically icy ever since my little escapade a few days ago. I had the feeling I was being treated as a flight risk and a danger to my own personal health. I placed both my blades back into their sheathes, still not quite satisfied with their conditions.

I ate very little of my breakfast, my appetite gone with the night. We both made our way to the bathhouse. Huromi-san had taken to bathing with me in the morning and as we both lowered ourselves in the steaming water I let my eyes slide shut.

It was relaxing, and I worked on unknotting my tensed shoulders, listening to my muscles make small popping noises in the process. I started to clean away all the sweat and grime from the previous night and as I did I noticed Huromi-san staring at me. I felt the unease start to build in my stomach as I sank lower to hide myself, "what?"

She stayed quiet for a moment longer, then she turned away, "it is nothing." I watched her face carefully before, I to, turned away with a feeling like claws were having a "go" at my stomach. I finished quickly and clambered out of the tub, my mood ruined. I dressed and went to leave, but I was stopped, "Michiyo-San, where are you going? You have not been re-bandaged."

"I am fine," _'damn it, why doesn't this robe cover more of me!'_ I thought. The robe left just enough visible that you could see the starts and endings of my scars.

"Michiyo-san, this is not a debate." She had gotten out of the tub and had reached out to grab my arm and pull me back.

"Don't, touch me." I had jerked myself away in an instant; my voice dropped down in tone as my words came out with a forced impact. I spun on my heels and veered towards my room. It wasn't until I was almost completely dressed and tying my hair up that Huromi-san had managed to catch up.

"Michiyo-san you are not permitted to leave, put those down!" I didn't bother to respond. Using the belt around my waist, I tucked in my swords, one on either side of my hips. As I went for the door Huromi-san attempted to block me off. Her arms and legs spread out so that her hands and feet touched the sides of the door's frame. It didn't do much though, without pausing my left hand grabbed her shoulder and I ripped her in and away from the opening, almost like she herself was a western styled door. I jumped off the deck outside my room, heading who knows where.

Michiyo-san, Michiyo-san! Where are you even going to go, out in the woods again!? Maybe you want to be found by bandits, or maybe you feel like prolonging your stay here by injuring yourself agai-aaaahhhhhhhh!"

I glanced back and saw that Huromi-san had clumsily tripped off the deck, I hesitated, I almost walked away, but I didn't take a single step forward. I gave an aggravated sigh and went to hold out my hand to her. "You are going to injure yourself before I ever do."

As she took my hand and I pulled her hand she said, "Michiyo-san, you cannot have another injury to your back again, like several days ago. If you do, it will seriously hinder your healing process."

My mind flashed to my previous escape attempt, "how long do I still have, time wise?"

"it will probably be healed enough for your discharge from here by the end of the week." I thought about that, so about four more days. I looked off to the horizon, my thoughts and emotions still a mystery to even myself. "So that is why you must be patient and wait just a little longer."

"No thanks."

"Wait, what! What do you mean?"

"I think I will just follow you around for the day, that way you can keep an eye on me."

"No, absolutely n...!"

"Well come on then I am sure you don't have all day." I cut her off and started to walk off in a random direction. Huromi-san finally gave up. I spent the morning following her as she did different chores and duties. I realized how well kept and beautiful the grounds of Yonezawa Castle were, but most of all I liked the openness of it all.

The grounds and structures were spread out and there weren't a lot of high, constricting walls. It was easy to see the landscapes and the sky beyond in this place. I took in a deep breath and let the clean, clear air soothe my agitated thoughts.

As I leaned against a wall Huromi-san came out of the room of another patient, her soft steps making only a hair's breadth of a whisper on the wooden floor. She glanced my way and said, "his leg was pierced in battle. He will live, but he will never walk normally again." she turned quickly away, but I didn't miss the glance she gave my swords that were still tucked away in my belt.

My swords really bothered Huromi-san, probably more so because I was a woman, but in the end it was none of her concern. "So where are we off to next?"

She gave me a slightly hesitant expression, "I really need to head down to the market and grab a few medicinal ingredients for Sensei, but maybe that can wait."

I rolled my eyes at her unsaid worries, "don't let me hold you back, it's probably best not to put it off." She stood there weighing her options. Deciding it wasn't important what decision she came to I started to head off towards the direction I thought the castle gate was at. "Michiyo-san!? Where are you."

"To the town of course." Strangely enough I was excited. Sadly, I really had no idea how life was led in this country; traditions, trends, work, political ideas, I didn't know any of these. I didn't know my own birth-land's culture.

Huromi-san had given in and decided to run her errands in town, but not before she "laid down the law." I was actually fairly impressed with the authority she used in her voice. She sometimes would give me glances of this side where she was calm and in control and other times she was timid and demure. She could be hard to wrap one's head around.

The rules ended up basically entailing staying in her sights at all times and not touching anything. There was another glance at my swords when she told me the later. Coming upon the gates to the castle grounds I could see that this place had plenty of economic traffic. Merchants and officials, goods to sell and buy, soldiers and civilians alike came in and out of the gates.

Our path quickly became overcrowded and I had to weave in among the people to avoid being pushed around. Huromi-san also seemed to be quite used to the situation as she easily melded into the crowd's pace. The closer we got to the gate, the more I wanted to see past it, and the more I kept trying to inconspicuously look above the heads of the crowd.

I hadn't even made it two steps through the gate before someone's hand yanked me out of the crowd by my shoulder. Low and behold there I was, faced with the seething guard from the other day (the one with the oddly shaped, cylinder like hair).

"Where do you think you're going huh?"

"Well," I pinched a nerve in his hand forcibly removing it from my shoulder, "I believe I was heading out this gate." _'Oh God, not this fool again'_, I thought agitatedly.

He shook his aching hand out a few times, "oh I don't think so. You're supposed to stay in the compounds."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll make sure to escort you back."

I openly smirked at that, "just like you did the other day?"

His face tinged slightly darker with that comment, but he refused to back down. "Put up much more of a problem, you little punk, and I might just take your swords away this time."

My eyes narrowed," try it and you will be eating dirt, again". It was a low blow and I thoroughly enjoyed the reminder.

"You punk as..!"

"Yoshinao-san, it's ok, she is with me." Huromi-san had finally caught up, but her arrival was ignored.

"In fact that would make three times that you have met with the ground, wouldn't it?"

"Hey you," he grabbed my arm and pulled me closer in anger, but I twisted myself in closer where his arm was over my shoulder and in my grasp. My foot hooked around one of his ankles and I was prepared to knock him off balance and throw him. Before I could finish the move though, he and I were both hit over the head.

We separated, both grabbing our ringing heads, and Huromi-san jumped at the chance to drag me away. "Michiyo-san has my permission, as I am a medical assistant, to accompany me to town Yoshinao-san, if you will excuse us."

She dragged me through the gate by the arm until I carefully removed myself from her grasp, uncomfortable with the contact. The man named "Yoshinao" seemed too surprised by Huromi-san's behavior to follow after us, but as I glanced back he sent me a look and I made sure my returning glare was no more lacking than his.

"Foolhardy," it was the only word I heard escape from Huromi-san's lips. I was fairly agitated, but curiosity overcame me as we reached the farming fields on the very outskirts of the city. Men and women all over worked the fields in the high, noon day sun. My head went back and forth trying to glean glimpses of all that there was.

If you had seen one field of crops you had seen them all, at least that is what I kept trying to tell myself. And even as I thought the thoughts there was a bubbly sort of rise that came from my chest and I felt kind of light. In all honesty this was my first real glimpse of Japan.

In all of the foolish childishness I was participating in I was shocked by a new sight, which dumped a cold bucket of water on my curiosity. There, toiling in the dirt and the sun, was the man with the dark, smoothed back hair and the overwhelming presence. Compared to the other day, his clothes were filthy and looked like peasant rags. His face was the picture of intense concentration as he broke through the earth's surface with a back hoe.

As the thickly built man raised the hoe and swung back down I imagined a blade in his hands as he cut an enemy down instead of cutting through the dry ground. The man's body spoke power in volumes. I was unsettled to say the least. Men of his power usually did not stay docile for long, they needed conflict. I should know, I had been around enough of the kind.

I made myself walk away, after Huromi-san and towards the village. I had a feeling of unrest in my heart and my memory briefly flashed back to my nightmare of the night before. I was being taken care of, but all things were not well. I had no true assurance that I was safe, from anything. Others could still harm me, people from this land or from my past. As the thought struck me the realization of how dependent upon I had become of these people became clear.

If I grew any more attached to this place I would become weak, and the weak perish.

* * *

This insufferable, strange woman! What was she!? Her moods changed so drastically from one moment to the next and it wasn't even something you could physically see on her features! It was an intensity that leaked out from her very being. It was alarming and disconcerting.

Most times she would stay silent, others she would act like a petulantly stubborn child and then she seemed to darken, silently raging. I wasn't sure what to do with her. As a medical assistant I had dealt with difficult patients before, but she just felt, off.

Her lack of attentiveness to traditional customs was the first thing that sent off warning bells. She would sometimes forget to add honorifics to peoples' names and she didn't always seem to understand what was being said when the topic had to do with events or places in Japan. With her strange looks and inattentive quirks I almost wondered if she was a foreigner, but that did not explain her swords. It also didn't explain the horrifying amount of scars her body bared.

Whether she could actually use the swords or not I could not tell, but she held on to them like her existence was tied to the swords themselves. I kept glancing over to the strange woman next to me as we started to walk into the market. Her face was her usual distant, emotionless mask, but her eyes took in everything, going this way and that.

I saw the area we needed to head for to pick up the supplies Todomu-san needed and I went to tap Michiyo-san's arm before I thought better of it. Remembering the way she had been acting all day when it came to physical contact I deemed it better to call out to her instead. "Michiyo-san, this way." Without a word she followed me over.

As I went through the different ingredients and herbs laid out before me, trying to remember what was needed and what was in season, I heard someone call out my name. "Saiya-chan, is that you?"

"Oh, Yuki-chan how good to see you!" The young girl came and grabbed both my hands in her much smaller ones.

"Saiya-chan how are you? I can't believe how long it has been since we last met!"

I laughed, "I know, life has kept us busy as of late. I am doing fine, how about yourself Yuki-chan?"

"Well, since you asked..." she leaned in quite close and whispered the words as if she was telling a great secret, "I am betrothed!"

"What!" I was shocked.

"It's true!" Yuki-chan was absolutely beaming.

"But wait, who are you betrothed to!? It couldn't possibly be..."

Following my train of thought she jumped in denial, "oh no no no no no, definitely not! It's to Satoshi-San, you remember right? He's the builder's son."

The two of us continued to rant ecstatically over the engagement, it was such an exciting point in Yuki-chan's life after all, but I managed to forget something important. More like I forgot someone important. I knew something wasn't right from the look on Yuki-chan's face as she happened to glance over my shoulder, her voice dying away in her throat. "An acquaintance of yours Saiya-chan?" Her voice had quitted enough that it sounded like she didn't know whether to say it out loud or just to my person. I turned slowly and saw Michiyo-san staring at us with empty eyes. I felt the unnatural chills.

"A-ah, Yuki-chan this is Michiyo-san. She is a ward of Yonezawa castle at the moment. Michiyo-san this is a dear friend of mine Yuki-chan." The last bit that addressed Michiyo-san sounded more like a warning than I meant it to. Michiyo-san spared me a glance and then simply continued to stare Yuki-chan down.

Yuki-chan tried to stay cordial, "a pleasure Michiyo-san." she gave a small bow, Michiyo-san did not even twitch. "Where are you from, I have not seen you before? Are you maybe a foreigner? What does your family do?"

Something was wrong. The sudden change happened again. She took no physical action, made no sound, but I could almost feel the intense anger that came from her. Her eyes were still guarded, but as she narrowed her eyes at Yuki-chan I finally realized it was her eyes that told the tale. When emotion cracked its way through the facade her topaz eyes seemed to glow with the energy making her emotions almost like a palpable substance in the air.

Yuki-chan shook behind me, but I was feeling less and less qualified to be her wall of protection. Michiyo-san deliberately turned away from her sending the full force of her gaze on me. She all of a sudden held a wrapped package out for me that I just now noticed she had. As I carefully took the package and unwrapped it I realized the contents that it held were the medicinal ingredients that I had needed for Todomu-san.

Every single one of them, they were the exact ingredients I needed, every single one! "How did you know?"

She gave a raise of an eyebrow as her mask started to slowly return over her features, "I was with you all morning." with that she turned away and started to head off in a different direction. I made quick farewells with the startled Yuki-chan and hurried off to keep an eye on Michiyo-san, admittedly I couldn't help the sense of foreboding.

I should have been impressed with a memory like that, but instead it gave me the chills. She had noticed and completely memorized my entire stock of supplies just by spending the morning with me. Was it on purpose or did she always take that much in from the world around her? Who was this woman?

* * *

The sun's light set the sky ablaze as it seemed to sink back into the horizon. And likewise my hair glowed with the dying light, earning more than a few glances from the people around me. The day had been fairly productive. I learned a lot about the town and the state of Japan from the talk of the town's people. There was a lot of information that didn't mean much of anything to me right now, but as I would become more familiar with the political systems and powerhouses here I believed it would be useful later.

What was most important though was that this apparently long war didn't look like it had a clear ending anytime soon. And then the question came, _'what will I do in a country divided by war?'_ Much like the war I had no vision to see a clear path for my own future.

The walk back to the castle was silent. Huromi-san hadn't said much of anything since meeting up with her childhood friend. I felt an involuntary convulse of my hand when I thought about the girl. Any other day I would have been able to control my emotions, but last night's dream was really taking a toll on me and I could tell it had been noticed, if Huromi-san's new found silence was any indicator. The girl just had to bring up family.

"There you two are!"

I cringed. _'For the love of all that is...,'_ I slowly turned to face my tormentor. "Isn't seeing you once in a day punishment enough?"

The man with the odd hair, Yoshinao, stopped short of us. I noticed he was accompanied by a man with similar designed armor and a chin guard strapped to his head. "Don't give me that bull! You have been out long enough and I am hauling your ass back to the castle before you try to jump ship again."

"I am a patient under the protection of Yonezawa castle's lord, not a prisoner. And in any case what wrong did you commit that you got stuck being my babysitter?" that actually seemed to hit a nerve in the fool.

He was about to scream something that I am sure would have been foul mouthed and derogative, but his acquaintance forcibly held him back and covered the fool's gaping mouth. "Exuse him, he doesn't always remember how to treat a lady. We thought we could walk the two of you safely back," his gaze changed to Huromi-san, "if that is all right."

Huromi-san gave a polite smile and a nod, "how kind, thank you."

He turned back to me as if asking permission. "Do what you like," I said, "it's not as if I can stop you." He just gave a kind smile as I brushed past him and his companion.

"See Yoshinao a little kindness goes a long way."

"Pfft, you're too nice Bunshichi. Pains in the ass don't deserve niceties." I ignored the two men as my gaze drifted towards the dying sun, my thoughts wandering, straying towards the terrors that would surely come again tonight.

It would have lasted like that all the way back, but something wasn't right. I stopped. What was off? I then realized it was a rumble. I couldn't quite hear it yet but I felt the slight vibrations in the soles of my feat.

The two men behind me were also starting to feel it, the sense of battle coming. Huromi-san, confused, tried to get our attention, but no one moved. The screams in the air rose and became piercing as people started to run off the road. People were panicking and as the road ahead cleared I was able to see the cause.

Half armored men on horse's and swords in hand were racing towards the city, randomly killing any who couldn't run away fast enough. Some had even caught themselves some pretty women for their amusement. As the lead man got closer from the group of five or six he dropped his "prize" upon seeing me, almost like he recognized me. As for me I definitely knew the bastard.

The bandit gave his men a whistled command and they all made due course in our direction, their horses' hooves pounding at the dirt. Yoshinao and Bunshichi drew their swords from their sides, taking stances for battle as they came in front of Huromi-san and I. It didn't matter though. The sounds of chaos faded into the back of my mind and people became indistinct around me. I relaxed my stance, but I pulled my weight forward.

They were almost on us now and I kept my gaze locked on the leader of their group. My arms loosely crossed in front of me so that each hand lightly gripped the hilt of the opposite sword. They came closer and closer and I was vaguely aware of Huromi-san wrenching at my arm and the two soldiers yelling something, but they didn't exist. At this moment all that could exist for me were my targets. I waited; they were here. I waited; they raised their swords above their heads. I waited; they were on the soldiers coming down...now!

I snapped my body forward, launching into the air using the speed I remembered having. Two of my previous captors were in the middle of a down swing at the soldiers Yoshinao and Bunshichi, but they never made it completely to them. I drew my swords, the blades sparking as they passed each other to finish their swing, I felt the rip and tear of human flesh briefly while passing between the two mounted bandits. I heard thumps behind me from the now headless corpses.

The rest of my targets stared in horror at the scene until one, from fear and anger, screamed, "you witch!" The last three charged. I took a new stance, one sword held horizontally in front of me while my other arm curled to the opposite shoulder setting up the strength for a full out swing from behind me, I bent my legs into a half crouch.

As one tried two race down on me I spun up and took his head and then I used the backside of his horse to propel me towards another bandit that I cut from shoulder to hip, breaking his spine in the process. Only one remained, and it was the drunk that tried to rape me when I was their prisoner.

His eyes widened in terror as he saw me coming. He tried to turn his horse around, but it was to late. I put all my strength behind my legs and was on him in the blink of an eye. He took a mid-air roundhouse kick across the face sending him off his horse and flying into the dirt. I stood over his curled form as he whimpered in pain.

There were no grand words of damnation or revenge I just stared him straight in the eye as I raised my blade and stabbed the man straight through the heart, his body jerking in one last attempt at life.

I stood there gazing at the dead man's face, surrounded by gruesome corpses, my blade still buried in his chest. I tried to find something, anything. Three seconds ago this hunk of flesh had been a man, a man that felt pain and was ruled by emotion. I tried to find a glimpse of that, I tried to feel my own humanity, but as I stared on I felt...nothing.

* * *

Some ran, some hid, and some simply could not move. It had been a complete massacre. They came running in, planning to kill and steal before the demon had come. She was so fast no one saw her until she was burying her sinister blades into the enemy. Yoshinao and Bunshichi never had time to even twitch, she was just there.

She was quick and brutal like the wind. You could almost clap to the beat of dropping corpses. Heads rolled and blood flew, but not a drop hit her as she appeared and disappeared. And then it was done in no time at all as she forcibly drove the last man through, almost like she was personally sending the man to the gates of hell. The words racing through people's minds were along the lines of _'monster, demon'_ and _'devil'_ as the people were captivated by her hair glowing like hell flame in the oncoming darkness and eyes that could pierce through a soul like a demon.

Yoshinao and Bunshichi were still tensed as if expecting her to turn on them, terror seeping in even after years of hardened battle. Huromi-san was unable to stay standing; she sank to the ground, holding herself as she shook. _'By the seven hells...'_

She just stood there staring at her last victim as if soaking in the death around her. Did she enjoy this chaos; did she feed off of this death?! All who were around flinched as she yanked her sword out of the body, crushing more bone as she did. She swung both swords, flinging the excess blood off the black blades. As she turned some people started to run, thinking they were next, but instead she re-sheathed her blades and turned from it all. She walked away and no one dared to follow.

* * *

Clash! Clang! Screeeech!

Bamboo fell around me, but it wasn't enough. More, more, I needed to keep going. I needed to push harder! I swung my blades, blocking what fell and making more projectiles. It was like the forest itself was raining down on me. I went through my positions and techniques. I was to slow, I needed to be better.

I hadn't truly used my swords in so long that I was now lacking, it felt like. With every swing I took I tried to fill the gaping hole in my soul that should have been my emotions. I tried to feel something, anything! Was I truly beyond my own humanity? Was there nothing left of me!? What am I lacking!?

I felt anguish, but it wasn't over my kills or from the horrified reactions of the witnesses, it was from feeling empty inside like I had nothing left. That's it, my strength is gone. I felt a ghost of an ache in my back and I sank to the ground at the base of a huge tree. Projectiles of forest debris crashed to the ground around me as my confusion and anguish filled my chest like a lake, drowning me in its icy depths. I was so tired. I let my head sink onto my knee as I fell asleep (or blacked out). I slept in dreamless darkness for once, my swords still tightly gripped in each hand. The forest made quite sounds all night as a breeze surrounded all.

* * *

**Wow, it has been ridiculously long since I updated anything! Well it should be more frequent, now that I have my plot outline fixed and redone. Well anyways **_**may the wrath of God come upon me if I don't update more frequently! **_**(I believe I just gave myself a death sentence…..crap -_-; ) anyways rate and review please! -JMichelleW**


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